None of the judges had ever seen a blacksmith
wield a hammer more masterfully, and the Haerjedal smith was proclaimed
the best in the land."
With these remarks Bataki subsided, and the boy grew even more
thoughtful.
"I wonder what your purpose was in telling me that?" he queried.
"The story dropped into my mind when I saw the old smithy again," said
Bataki in an offhand manner.
The two travellers rose again into the air and the raven carried the boy
southward till they came to Lillhaerdal Parish, where he alighted on a
leafy mound at the top of a ridge.
"I wonder if you know upon what mound you are standing?" said Bataki.
The boy had to confess that he did not know.
"This is a grave," said Bataki. "Beneath this mound lies the first
settler in Haerjedalen."
"Perhaps you have a story to tell of him too?" said the boy.
"I haven't heard much about him, but I think he was a Norwegian. He had
served with a Norwegian king, got into his bad graces, and had to flee
the country.
"Later he went over to the Swedish king, who lived at Upsala, and took
service with him. But, after a time, he asked for the hand of the king's
sister in marriage, and when the king wouldn't give him such a high-born
bride, he eloped with her. By that time he had managed to get himself
into such disfavour that it wasn't safe for him to live either in Norway
or Sweden, and he did not wish to move to a foreign country.
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